Comedy Central orders up Onion series

Laffer net greenlights 10 episodes of sports show

Comedy Central has ordered 10 episodes of halfhour scripted comedy “The Onion Sports Network,” with a premiere date scheduled for the first quarter of next year.

The series, based on the Onion Sports Network website and greenlit to pilot in November, will merge sports onscreen with the Onion’s typical satirical approach to, well, everything.

“The Onion has such credibility in the comedy world, we feel fortunate to partner with them,” Comedy Central head of original programming and production Kent Alterman said. “They will skewer the sports world, and the media coverage of sports, with the same sharpness we’ve seen applied to the world of politics and popular culture.”

Julie Smith and Will Graham will exec produce the series, a kindred spirit of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report.” Recent headlines include “Donovan McNabb: ‘I’d Like To Thank The Ungrateful, Over-Expecting, Oftentimes-Racist Fans Of Philadelphia.'”

“With only 57 cable channels devoted to talking about sports, we felt that the sports world wasn’t getting the attention it deserved,” Graham joked.